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A-frame Allandale Vacation House

Designed by William O’Brien Jr., the assistant professor of Architecture in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this unusual vacation house plan is an A-frame house in the forest that stands out among the trees. Described as a “cabin of curiosities,” the Allandale House shelters not just its residents, but also their collection of wines, rare books, stuffed birds and an elk mount. Small but sweet, this compact vacation cottage provides a retreat from all the hustle and bustle. The forest setting is as appreciated from the outdoors as it is in, thanks to the home’s expansive glass walls. Three asymmetrical A-frames culminate in this oddly shaped house. The Skinny A-frame houses the library, wine cellar and garage; the wide, central frame is occupied by the bedrooms and baths; while the kitchen, living and dining are to be found in the third. “The house aims to undermine the seeming limitations of a triangular section by augmenting and revealing the extreme proportion in the vertical direction, and utilizing the acutely angled corners meeting the floor as moments for thickened walls, telescopic apertures and built-in storage,” explains the architect William O’Brien Jr.